Another Valentine's Day
by soft lite
Summary: CJ thinks about Ben and Danny on Valentine's Day.


Author: soft lite E-mail: AsogIst at hotmail dot com Title: Another Valentine's Day Characters: CJ, Josh, Carol, Toby, Amy, and Danny Category: Romance Pairings: CJ/Ben, CJ/Danny, Josh/Amy Spoilers: Season 5 through "The Benign Prerogative"  
Rating: PG Summary: CJ thinks about Ben and Danny on Valentine's Day.  
Disclaimer: Characters from "The West Wing" are not mine.  
Author's notes: This is set February 14, 2004. Many, many thanks to Spooky for helpful suggestions in finishing this!  
  
Another Valentine's Day. Another senior staff meeting. Another walk back to her office.  
  
As a "special surprise" Ben had arranged to get himself temporarily reassigned from Glacier Bay National Park near Juneau, Alaska to Shenandoah National Park near Harrisonburg, Virginia - about 3000 miles closer to her. Supposedly it was just for a month. But CJ didn't like the idea that an ex-boyfriend who had, out of the blue, started obsessively calling her eight months ago, was now just 80 miles away. What possessed him to think she had any interest in him after 10 years, she couldn't imagine.  
  
She was certainly surprised, but not in the pleasant way Ben had hoped. She had taken his phone call, when informed that it was from area code 540, but only to repeat that she didn't want to talk to him, and add that she didn't want to see him, either.  
  
CJ mused that the only possible benefit from Ben's surprise visit was that her few free Valentine's Day moments were not spent on more painful thoughts.  
  
The moment this passed through her mind, CJ knew that it would be thoughts of Danny, not Ben, filling whatever free time she had until Ben called again. This thought caused her to pause in her walk, 50 feet from the Oval Office.  
  
Much more familiar Valentine's Day wonderings now flooded her mind: Where was Danny? Was he celebrating? Would she see him any time soon? When she did see him, would she feel as strongly about him as she had the last time?  
  
CJ had been sure for several years that she was in love with Danny, and she marveled that every time she saw him, even after months of absence, her feelings grew stronger.  
  
It was frustrating as hell.  
  
For the sake of appearance, no one, not even Danny, could know how CJ felt. And no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't ask him whether he still had feelings for her.  
  
As she stood staring at the office that had been Sam's, CJ realized that she now felt the exact opposite of what she had told Sam years earlier: "I don't care what it IS, I care what it looks like."  
  
Except she was still required to care what it looked like. And she was not allowed to explore what it was.  
  
Disheartened, CJ resumed her walk back to her office, wondering if Carol would be able to keep her busy enough to keep Danny off her mind.  
  
Sitting down at her desk, she was distracted by a folded Post-It note on Gail's bowl and a new Cupid in the bowl. CJ smiled as Gail investigated the tip of the arrow that pointed toward CJ's face, and her smile widened as she unfolded the note and saw the familiar handwriting, "I'm home."  
  
"CJ, do you need anything else before I go home?"  
  
"No, Carol. Go. Have fun. Or at least get some sleep."  
  
"You should try having some fun and sleep, too. When was the last time you got more than four hours sleep in a day? If you don't sleep more, you're going to start making mistakes."  
  
Yeah right, CJ thought as she watched Carol leave and then returned to the pile of reading in front of her.  
  
An hour later, she capped her pen and sat back for a little break. As often happened, her gaze wandered to Gail. But today she found herself looking down Cupid's arrow. And she smiled - something she had been doing a lot today, at least compared to her recent average.  
  
As too often happened when her thoughts turned to Danny, CJ found herself dwelling on each of those five kisses, what now seemed like forever ago. Each of them had felt so right, and stopping had felt so wrong.  
  
Yet stopping had saved her her job.  
  
Hadn't it?  
  
Would Leo have fired her if she had pursued a relationship with Danny? Would the President have let him? Was there any resolution that did not involve one of them changing jobs?  
  
CJ was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't see or hear Josh and Toby enter. "Uh-oh," Josh sing-songed with a smirk, "Cupid's got CJ!"  
  
CJ was saved from replying by a phone call. "CJ. . . . Yeah. . . . Okay."  
  
CJ tried to continue her end of the phone call as Toby frowned, "I thought that Ben person was only supposed to be around for a couple more weeks - it would be stupid to fall in love with him now."  
  
As she hung up the phone and began walking towards her door, CJ firmly stated, "Ben is not the guy I am in love with. Leo wants us in his office." She left her office, oblivious to her slip-up and the two men with their jaws hanging open.  
  
---  
  
"Hey CJ."  
  
"Hey Amy. What brings you to my office after 10 p.m. on Valentine's Day?"  
  
"Well, you know, Josh and I."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"And I heard you were rattling around here, kind of restless, so I thought maybe . . ."  
  
"I'm rattling?"  
  
"Yeah, and as long as you are, would you rattle over to Josh's with me so I can do something really stupid?"  
  
"Josh has already gone home."  
  
"I know. So I want you to go with me to his place."  
  
"What's the really stupid thing you want to do there?"  
  
"Talk with him."  
  
"Isn't that what caused the two of you to break up?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Just checking. So you're offering me some cheap entertainment?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Okay, let's go."  
  
By the time they reached Josh's apartment, CJ was looking forward to watching the fight, and she knocked firmly on the door. CJ's mouth began to turn into a bit of a smile when Josh opened the door and looked back and forth between the two women. "Hey, come in," Josh began. And as he closed and locked the door, added, "I can't believe she really got you both here."  
  
The hint of a smile immediately vanished from CJ's face. "She who?"  
  
"Mrs. Bartlet," Amy answered. "So Josh, you couldn't have figured out how to do whatever it is you're trying to do without involving her?"  
  
"I wanted to talk with you and get CJ out of the White House and onto neutral territory, and the First Lady was sympathetic to my causes."  
  
"Why do I need to be in the neutral zone, Josh?"  
  
"Cause you screwed up today, CJ, and Toby says he's going to tell Leo - he may have already. Anyway, the designated neutral territory is the kitchen," Josh answered, pointing the way.  
  
"What did I do?" CJ asked as she moved slowly in the indicated direction.  
  
"Your comeback to Toby's comment about Ben."  
  
"I said I wasn't falling in love with Ben."  
  
"Actually, you said Ben's not the guy you're in love with."  
  
"What's everyone doing here?" Danny asked, stepping out of the kitchen. "Josh, you said you wanted someone to watch ESPN and talk sports with for an hour or two. You didn't mention beautiful women."  
  
"Neutral territory." Josh pointed. "Both of you. Now. Amy and I have to fight, and it's not something innocent eyes should see."  
  
CJ grabbed Danny's tie and pushed him into the kitchen, "Come on, Mr. Innocent."  
  
"I think he was referring to you, not me."  
  
"Josh, are you sure you want them losing their innocence in your kitchen?" Amy asked.  
  
"Ew!"  
  
"Shut up, Josh," CJ said, as she rolled her eyes and disappeared into the kitchen with Danny.  
  
Before either could say anything, CJ placed a quick kiss on Danny's cheek.  
  
"What was that for?"  
  
"From Gail for bringing her a new bowl ornament. This next one is from me," added CJ as she put her arms around his neck. 


End file.
